Women's Lacrosse 4/6/2018 10:30:00 AM

WINTHROP VISITS CUPP STADIUM FOR SATURDAY AFTERNOON TILT

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GAME INFORMATION

SETTING THE STAGE

Radford sits tied for fourth in the Big South after improving to 1-1 with a 15-10 victory at Longwood on Wednesday
Winthrop (2-0) is in a three-way tie for first with High Point and Liberty thanks to wins over Longwood (20-13) and Presbyterian College (21-4)
Saturday's game marks the first Big South home game of the season for the Highlanders

SERIES HISTORY

Radford has dropped each of its first two meetings with Winthrop
Callie Bonnel has a team-leading five career goals against the Eagles
Goalies Hannah Rosen and Maddie Mashewske have each started one game in the cage against Winthrop

HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS

Record: 4-7 (1-1 Big South)
With their win at Longwood on Wednesday, the Highlanders improved to 3-2 on the road this season to further show their progress as a young program
Radford really turns it on in the second half. The team has put up more goals, saves, shots and shots on goal in the second half compared to the first half of games this season
The Highlanders now rank 8th in the nation with 11.55 caused turnovers per game and 16th in the nation with 12.36 ground balls per game
Junior attacker Adrian Rius took over primary draw control responsibilities and now has 26 wins in her last three games
With 33 goals so far, junior midfielder Callie Bonnel already ranks fourth in single-season program history for goals scored. She also ranks sixth for points, of which she has 35, thanks to two assists on the year
Sophomore goalie Jenny Davis has set a new career high with 113 saves. She had 112 in 12 games played in 2017
Freshmen Jennifer Shield and Rachel Ator have added a lot to the Highlanders' squad this season. Ator is tied for the team lead with 18 caused turnovers and is tied for second on the team with 24 ground balls while Shield has produced four goals and three assists

SCOUTING THE EAGLES

Record: 9-3 (2-0 Big South)
In the 2018 Big South Preseason Poll, Winthrop was picked to finish second and received one first-place vote
The Eagles are riding an eight-game win streak dating back to March 8th. Before this run, they lost three straight against Cincinnati (10-12), Davidson (5-10) and Navy (11-22)
Winthrop is 3-1 on the road this season with wins at Kennesaw State (19-15), Coastal Carolina (16-14) and Mercer (14-9)
Senior attacker Nicole Beatson leads the entire nation in goals (57) and goals per game (4.75). She also ranks top-5 in the nation for points (71), points per game (5.92) and shots per game (8.33)
Beatson is one of four Eagles with 20+ goals this season. She's joined by Katherine Judge (30), Katie Clark (28) and Allie Yeager (21)
Redshirt junior goalie Alaina Girani leads the Big South in save percentage at .458
The Eagles do a great job taking care of the ball and they lead the Big South in least turnovers committed per game with 14.42
If there's one thing Winthrop may struggle with it's collecting ground balls. Through their first 12 games, the Eagles rank seventh out of eight teams in the conference with 16.75 ground balls per game

UP NEXT

The Highlanders hit the road once again to take on Gardner-Webb on Wednesday, April 11 at 6 p.m. in Boiling Springs, N.C.
The Runnin' Bulldogs are 2-10 overall, 0-2 in the Big South and 0-6 at home this season
They'll have a chance to earn their first conference win when they take on Longwood this Saturday at 1 p.m.

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Players Mentioned